Serifos Page 4

History Continued

When the mother and son first arrived
on the island they were taken in by the kindly fisherman who
took them to the King Polydectes who also wanted to marry Danae but
was rebuffed. As Perseus grew to manhood he defended his mothers decision
not to marry, so the King came up with the idea of sending him off
to accomplish some tasks. The first one was to bring him the
head of Medusa, the only mortal sister of the three Gorgon Sisters,
with hair made of living snakes, bulging eyes and fang-like teeth.

Perseus, having God as his father
and being no slouch, had the help of the Goddess Athena, who fitted
him out with a mirrored shield, winged shoes and a cloak of invisibility.
With the head in a bag, and after a side trip to save and dally with
Andromeda, Perseus returned to Serifos, and showed Medusa's head to
the king and his court who immediately turn to stone. The kindly fisherman
became King and Perseus and Danae returned home to Argos causing Arkisius
to skeedaddle out of town. The prophecy was fulfilled when Perseus accidentally put a javelin through the
foot of his grandfather,
who expired on the spot.

Serifos' history after all this
is pretty bland and has the usual Ionian, Athenian, Delian, Persian,
Phoenician, Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian (The Micheli Family),
Turkish, Russian (1770-1774), Nazi and Italian cast of characters
common to the rest of the Cyclades.